to my Podagee, Hese

My earliest memories of Jess are of him standing, sucking his thumb on the hill above our student apartment at NAU. His stick-straight-hair never sat straight, but instead stuck straight out at the sides and on top of his head. His feet stood pigeon-toed. His little limbs carried his protruding belly, like the kids in Africa with the bloated bellies, except I know he was never starving. He was always eating someone's food, if not ours, the neighbors'. 

He was always dirty like ... more than normal kids should be. I think his face was permanently stained with the burnished, rusty color of Arizona dust. 

He wrapped his monkey legs around everyone and everything. He was always climbing on things. 

Basically, he started life existing as a sort of primal animal.

Jess was the lucky one to get the brown, athletic, muscly, Portuguese genes. Fitting, because our parents gave him the Avila name. If they gave it to Jayk, people would be confused. 

Also his eyes are super slanty and droopy so much so that when I was little I wondered if he saw straight. Apparently, he does because his coordination is pretty impressive. Maybe, I'm the one with the crooked eyes. 

Jess has always had the uncanny ability to make people of all kinds fall in love with him, even men. It's quite the talent. He is always surrounded by friends, mostly girls. 

There is an exception to this rule. Some teachers don't seem to agree with his teasing antics. I'm pretty positive Jess got more detentions than all of us combined. 

Family pictures have always been a fiasco. Fifty percent of the blame goes to Jayk and the other half to Jess.

Check out my knees. I'm surprised I could ever walk straight. Jess learned at an early age that he could take me down when I was being too bossy. I never had the same power over him again. 

Jess and Jayk have always been best buds. They always have to be touching each other. I'll never quite understand their bond, but I enjoy watching it. Unless, the attention is directed physically towards me.

When he plays the banjo, he bears all of his front teeth.

Jess LOVES working. Last summer, we would sometimes walk to work together. He would chant, "I'm ready. I'm ready. I'm ready" the whole way there. For those of you who don't know, this is a spongebob reference.

He really knows his stuff about boxes.

He also loves bailing hay, especially when he's with his people in St. Johns, AZ. 

Mom reminded me of this story the other day. She took us five to our annual doctor's appointment. We eagerly waited and eavesdropped on every sibling. Consequently, our annual doctor's appointment transformed into our annual size-up competition. Jess was so little and Jory was this fat, squeezable baby. So juicy. In hopes that Jory would out-weigh him, Jayk and I chanted Jory's name while he stepped up to the scale. Jory. Jory! JORY! and then the crowds went wild! Our Vietnamese doctor told him, "You need eat more snack." (See my mother for an impression.) Jess cried the whole way home.

When we moved to Pennsylvania, I looked up to him. He called me out a couple of times (rightfully so) for being a brat. I needed to hear it. He is a good example to me.

I love going rock climbing with Jess except for when he drops me for cheating and I have to start over. That's just cruel for someone who breaks a sweat on the kiddie wall. 

Everyone should know that I'm better at yoga than Jess. He likes those breathing videos.

(Just kidding). However, we have to agree that grandma is better than both of us.

I put this one up because of our cute outfits. 

And this one because Jess wore a pimp suit to a church activity and because Jayk is batman. LOL

Also! Everyone, someday Jess is going to buy me a pick-up truck. He lost a bet. Can't wait to take everyone out on my sweet, new ride!

I'm proud of you. I'm excited to see what you do in the future because I think you are so talented. Good luck with school braddah. I'll be seeing you soon.